Good and Evil

by Roxas Itsuka

Izuku Midoriya, having been bullied for most of his life falls into complete despair. However having been discovered by the League of Villains he finds a new reason to live in this world. Villain Deku. This is my first fanfic. Chapters have been fully updated and corrected as of 06/08/2021

50. The Raid Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia

Please read the previous chapter to see the OC hero descriptions. Also, a huge shout out thanks to All Bite for the cover art of Deku. It's everything I imagined only better.

Thanks to everyone who submitted an OC for this event.

Before we get into the chapter, I just want to say sorry to you all for not updating. Things have been really chaotic for me lately with college work and with what's going on in the world. I've also been writing other stories which I published on New Year's Eve and some chapters for the rewrite of a Familiar with Familiars. This is why I'm happy to share this chapter with all of you now.

This is one that's been discussed for over a year and now finally it's happening. I present to all of you, the Raid. Enjoy!

Hero Public Safety Commission

"Everything ready then?" All Might asked the President.

"It is," she confirmed with a hard gaze. "Tomorrow when we attack, we will destroy Hades and rescue the hostages. Thanks to the information provided by Midoriya, we now have knowledge of the organization's members, their quirks and skills, their armoury, and most importantly, their location. With this knowledge, we have formulated a battle strategy that will result in our victory."

The Hero Commission President spoke in such a confident manner and even looked the part. However, deep down she was nervous about the mission.

Tomorrow would be their only chance, and they probably wouldn't get another one like it, hence why they absolutely had to succeed.

The plan involved a coordinated strike via three locations, specifically where the entrances were. The one Izuku entered had been difficult to locate but they found it eventually. It was just on the outskirts of the city in the South section.

The second one had been provided by Dabi who had been there before. This one was in the East section of the city.

There were tunnels that ran under the city, and Japan in general, that lead to different parts. Without proper navigation, one would be lost down there for a long time.

The third was on the Westside and would be taking place from the Sea. Izuku mentioned that Umi had access to the sea meaning an entrance had to be close. Heroes that specialised in aquatic battles would be there.

"I take it you all know your roles and what you are meant to do," the President said.

"Of course," the three men confirmed.

To ensure the success of the operation, each attack would be led by a top pro hero. The first by All Might, second by Endeavor, and third by Gang Orca.

All Might and Endeavor were perfect for ground assaults, while Orca was best suited for the Ocean.

"I cannot stress the importance of this operation enough," she exclaimed. "Failure will not be an option."

"It never was," Endeavor assured. "We will triumph, just like always."

"You have our word Madam President," All Might added.

Secretly though, he was as nervous as the President. While he was worried about the state of the students, he was also worried about Izuku's fate as well.

Hades had tried to kidnap him once, on UA no less, who is to say they wouldn't try again during the operation. UA would be less protected this time due to several teachers participating in the raid.

This included Eraserhead, Midnight, Ectoplasm, and Power Loader, due to being deemed the most suitable to take down villains quickly and efficiently in this area.

Other hero schools were the same. Some had teachers joining in with others remaining behind to protect their respective schools.

To ensure they won, the Hero Commission asked for the aid of several foreign heroes who had only arrived recently.

It helped that All Might was acquainted with them from his travels abroad when he was younger.

All Might was also concerned about Shiro and the threat he presented. While he was confident, he could win, he wouldn't dare underestimate the man. He had gone toe-to-toe with AFO after all.

Endeavor understood that Shiro was a threat, as he did with most of the other villains. However, that didn't matter to him. When they fight, they will fall, just as many other villains had. Slaves or not, he would show no mercy to the enemy.

Orca understood the importance of the task, however, part of him couldn't help but focus on Curator. It had been a long time since they fought but he seriously doubted he had gotten any weaker since then. He and his nemesis would face off tomorrow, and the confrontation would be ugly.

"Get some rest gentlemen," the President ordered. "We strike at dawn."

Shiro

Shiro was ecstatic for tomorrow. A fierce battle awaited them, and regardless of who he was facing off against he couldn't help but feel excited. Strong opponents were hard to come by these days, especially for him.

The idea of fighting All Might sent shivers down his spine. He had heard from AFO just how strong he was and then witnessed it first-hand on tv when the Symbols of Peace and Chaos clashed in Kamino. Granted they were both in weakened conditions but hey, a strong opponent was a strong opponent.

Endeavor interested him somewhat as well, though perhaps he would leave him to Nikko. Though that wasn't to say he wouldn't toy with the man as a sort of warm-up for All Might. He had a lot of dirt on Enji Todoroki from a very special source, and he would be a fool not to use it now.

"Oh, what a wonderful day it shall be," Shiro exclaimed joyfully. "And Deku, no, Izuku, I hope you'll be watching. After all, you and I are due a rematch very soon."

Izuku Midoriya the following morning

Izuku woke up early, or rather, earlier than he normally would have. It was 5.30 in the morning but strangely he wasn't bothered.

Falling asleep last night had been difficult, to begin with, though he was certain as to why.

The Raid.

It was today.

Izuku hadn't been able to focus on anything other than that recently, not that he hadn't tried. He knew what the outcome would be, but part of him, just a small part of him, wished that impossible would happen.

That Shiro would lose.

That the operation would be successful.

That he wouldn't ever have to see or deal with Hades again.

He knew, but he still dreamed.

"Rise and shine friend," a familiar voice chimed. "Big day ahead of you."

Izuku turned and saw Kai hallucination, okay no, he was just going to call him Kai to save time. Anyway, he saw Kai sitting at his desk with his left leg over the right.

Izuku wasn't entirely surprised to see him considering what transpired last night. What did surprise him was Kai's outfit.

"What are you wearing?" he blurted out.

Kai's attire consisted of black baggy trousers, a purple t-shirt with his name written in katakana, slippers, no gloves, and no mask.

"What's wrong with it?" Kai asked confused.

"It's normal," Izuku admitted.

Kai blinked.

"And?" he retorted. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing it's just," Izuku started. "I've never seen you outside your."

"Outside my villain outfit," Kai finished to which Izuku nodded. Kai rolled his eyes. "Izuku, you do realize that the only time we were together was when we teamed up to take down Tenome, right? Other than that, we've never been around each other. So, I'm pretty sure my real-life counterpart does something similar when he's not working."

Izuku didn't have a way to argue with that. Then again, it was highly unlikely Kai wore the same outfit repeatedly considering it would fall into his unsanitary category, and with Kai's extreme germaphobia well, enough said.

"Also, about the mask you do know only you can see and hear me, right?" Kai asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Unless there's someone with telepathy around here, no one but you is going to pay attention to me, so why would I wear it?"

Izuku didn't offer a retort, not that he was able to.

"Now, are you going to lie there all day or are you going to get up and do something with your life?" Kai asked snarkily.

Izuku scowled knowing he was right. On the other hand, he did want to watch the news for signs of the Raid. He didn't think it would be broadcasted at first but when all hell breaks loose reporters and helicopters would flock to the scene like a predator to its prey.

Grudgingly he rose from his bed and got dressed in an outfit similar to Kai's, though his t-shirt was green. He then proceeded to the kitchen to make some tea as he was in dire need of it.

"Looking forward to the fight between All Might and Shiro?" Kai questioned to his back.

"Not sure," Izuku admitted. "It should be quite the sight to see though. When he and Sensei fought in Kamino I only saw bits and pieces of it. the rest I was either fighting for my life or unconscious."

Kai hummed in response. Izuku finished his tea.

"What about you? Are you?" he then turned and saw Kai again. This time he nearly dropped his tea. "What the fuck!"

Kai's outfit had changed once more, this time to All Might's hero costume. He had his hands balled up into fists resting on his hips and was grinning at Izuku's reaction.

Izuku, on the other hand, was seriously beginning to question his own sanity at this point.

Why? Just why? Of all the things that came from his head, was a hallucination of Overhaul dressed as All Might? Was there even an explanation for that?

"What? Don't like what you see?" Kai asked amusedly.

"Why would I like it?" Izuku shot back incredulously.

"Because you told the real me that he might look good in it," Kai explained nonchalantly.

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn't remember ever… wait, hold on, there was a time when they were talking. Izuku talked a bit about his childhood and what he did. The topic may have come up at some point.

"Oh," Izuku realised. "Apparently, I did. I was just joking though."

"You still said it," Kai pointed out.

"Yeah, but I never thought he'd actually do it. Kai would sooner overhaul his entire existence than be caught in… that," Izuku bluntly stated, to which the hallucination seemingly agreed. "Besides it's not complete. You're missing something… some… oh what is it?"

Without warning, Kai raised his right arm with a serious-looking face. Then, in a deep voice he shouted:

"FEAR NOT CITIZENS! HOPE HAS ARRIVED! WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

Kai's voice didn't sound anything like All Might's, but it was a good attempt.

However, with the way he said it and how he looked during it, Izuku couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah! That's what was missing," he chortled.

Kai smiled. It was a genuine smile.

Izuku wasn't sure if the real one would have done it, but it was nice. The hallucination was proving to be very entertaining, in more ways than one. This one surprised him twice so far, and it didn't show any signs of stopping soon.

Part of him couldn't help but think about the real Kai and what he might be doing right now. Possibly expanding his influence, or performing experiments, who knew? Izuku wondered if the real Kai could ever act like this, not that he would ever find out.

"I'm relieved to hear that," Kai said. That's when they heard footsteps. "Oh, and someone's coming, so we're gonna have to cut this conversation short. Otherwise, they'll think you're crazy, not that they'd be far off."

Just like that, he was gone. Izuku turned and focused on his tea as he heard someone arrive.

"Ah, Midoriya, you're up," Sekijirou said entering the kitchen.

"I couldn't sleep," Izuku admitted.

"Ah, can't say I blame you," Sekijirou responded. "Especially with what's going on today."

"Is that you're up as well?" Izuku guessed. "To watch the Raid when it becomes public?"

"I'll be patrolling the school along with some other teachers. We're short on numbers which is why we need to be on our guard," Sekijirou explained. "Eraser already left for the operation, as have several others."

Izuku wasn't surprised Aizawa was taking part. His work would prove very useful in taking down villains, especially Shiro and Nikko.

"What about you? How are you handling everything?" the Blood Hero asked.

"You mean have I had any panic attacks recently?" Izuku assumed.

The first time he had had a panic attack at UA, the staff's concerns about raised significantly.

The second time they upped their tabs on him to keep an eye on his mental and physical condition.

He supposed he should be grateful they were looking out for his well-being, but he really just couldn't bring himself to care.

"No, I've been fine for the most part," he admitted. "Nothing has triggered me so far, thankfully." Sekijirou gave him a look and Izuku knew exactly what he was thinking. "And before you say "if there's anything you want to talk about, you tell us," save it. I'll be doing that with Hound Dog, who is quite insistent on it."

Oh yes. The school guidance counsellor was intent on having more sessions with him in light of his recent… issues.

"Ryo is the right person to talk to," Sekijirou admitted. "I'm sure he'll be able to help you."

"I doubt it somehow," Izuku replied emotionlessly.

Not that he had anything against the guidance counsellor (truth be told he along with Aizawa was his favourite staff member at this school), but he seriously doubted he would be able to help him through something like this.

Sekijirou wanted to contradict him, but he needed to get to work. The other students would wake soon and he would be patrolling the area along with his fellow hero/teachers. Nezu would be giving them updates on the mission.

Once he had left, Izuku sat down and turned on the tv. There was nothing interesting on, but that would soon change.

"Well, good luck everyone, including you All Might," Izuku toasted. "Because you are so screwed otherwise."

Raid Section: All Might

All Might stood by his allies just waiting for the order to be sent. Part of him was unnerved to be kept waiting this long, though it was probably the anxiety talking. Still, he watched and waited for the moment when they struck.

Meanwhile, other members were getting reacquainted with one another.

"Hey Eraser, long time no see," Kenbosho greeted his old friend.

"It has," Aizawa agreed. "Sorry I haven't kept in touch. I've been a bit busy mentoring my students and believe me they're a handful."

"You mean you haven't expelled anyone yet?" the Forgotten hero sounded surprised. "That's not like you."

"No, it isn't," Aizawa agreed. "Still, they have a lot of potentials, more than most I've seen. There's just the issue with bringing it out."

Now Kenbosho was intrigued. Whoever was in this class, must have been special if Shota hadn't expelled them yet.

Other party members were socialising with each other.

Gunhead and Crust were talking about working as a team for both offence and defence.

The Wild Wild Pussycats were discussing a strategy.

Black Baron, John Doe, Blitz Strike and Power Loader were talking about the upcoming battle.

Wash was rinsing out as a warm-up.

Frozen Fairy and Miruko had been discussing battle techniques until it came to the topic of Frozen Fairy's clan and a special someone.

"Oh my God! Is that your daughter?" Miruko asked in awe.

"Yep!" Frozen Fairy beamed with pride. "Her name is Moon Mi-ran. She's three months old."

"I can tell," the Rabbit hero replied. "Damn though. Your little bunny is adorable. Bet she'll grow up to be a strong hero just like her mom."

"Thank you," the Korean hero replied. She was happy to talk about her baby girl and was relieved someone wasn't questioning her about the father for once. "I'd be happy to introduce you both when she's older."

Ryukyu had reunited with an old friend of hers.

"So, you still with you know who?" Sketch asked.

He had a long-time crush on Ryukyu ever since they were in school together. While he was saddened that she was in love with someone else, nonetheless, he accepted it.

"Not exactly. We're kind of on a break, but I'm hoping we can patch things up soon," Ryukyu responded sheepishly. She looked towards the entrance. 'Now more than ever knowing where you are, and who you're working for.'

Raid Section: Endeavour

Things were the same with Endeavour's group, thought to a lesser extent.

Some talked. Skeleton Eye was flirting with Midnight who was brushing it off, but still teasing her about it.

Medic Man and Endeavour were shooting each other glares. The two had never gotten along due to them both sensing something was dodgy about the other, although they never acted on their suspicions.

Endeavour wanted to start the damn operation already. The waiting was killing him. They were ready. So, now was the time to act.

Raid Section: Gang Orca

No talk was being made between the heroes lying in wait underwater. Gang Orca and his sidekicks, Selkie and his crew, Manual (who was wearing a special mask for breathing underwater), and Evolution sat waiting for the signal.

Evolution was dressed in a special suit that was now in the form of a black and blue diver outfit that covers everything barring his head. He was eager to begin to rescue his little sister. The second he heard Elena was in danger he joined instantly.

His parents weren't taking part due to restrictions, but if given permission well, may God have mercy on Shiro's soul.

Gang Orca waited patiently. His showdown with Curator was approaching, and he was ready. He would show no mercy, just as the bastard had shown none to him and his victims.

Hero Commission

Knowing it was time to begin, the Hero Commission President readied the signal.

"Is there a reason I'm not participating?" the hero asked his boss. "Surely, I could be an asset."

She knew this question was coming. She had been asked by several others so far but resolved to the same answer.

"I don't doubt that Hawks. However, regarding Deku's warning, I need you here in case things go south," she admitted. "You will be necessary for what comes after. Believe me."

The No.3 hero simply stared at his boss. While the answer didn't satisfy him, he didn't argue with it. Still, he understood where her fear was coming from.

On the bright side, being held back meant there was a chance he could see him again later.

Not wasting any more time, the President pressed a button that sent out a signal to the three receivers.

"And so, it begins," she muttered darkly.

Raid Section: All Might

SMASH!

All Might punched his way through a group of Shiro's men with such speed they were instantly knocked out (albeit briefly).

The moment the signal went, all hell broke loose from all sides.

Different enemies were firing at the heroes and police while the police and heroes were firing back.

Guns against guns.

Support gear against support gear.

Whatever they had Hades was matching in equal strength.

It was strange. Most villain raids usually just had the criminals trying to use their quirks to fight them off but here they had well-designed equipment and a perfect defence system.

This was not a simple raid anymore, but a full-on warzone.

The other heroes were doing reasonably well.

Aizawa cancelled quirks and knocked others out.

Crust put up shields to block gunfire.

Gunhead shot at the enemy.

Blitz Strike electrocuted them and vice versa.

In other words, they had it sorted.

All Might proceeded on route defeating anyone who got in his way. Seeing the collars around their necks he felt some remorse as they weren't doing this willingly, but quickly discarded it in favour of the mission. They could save them all after Shiro was defeated.

His thoughts were interrupted by a blast of hot energy to his face.

All Might skidded and barely halted avoiding an unnecessary collision with the wall. He rubbed his face. The attack hadn't hurt that much but it still stung.

"Impressive," came female applause. "Most would either be left unconscious or be burned badly. You really are the number one hero, aren't you?"

All Might turned and gritted his teeth. "Nikko. Shiro's second in command."

"Ah, so you know who I am," she responded sounding pleased. "Good. That saves me the trouble."

"Where's Shiro?!" the Symbol of Peace demanded.

This woman may have been a dangerous threat, but her boss was the true target.

Nikko frowned, apparently disappointed.

"Not here!" she stated firmly. "He's off playing with Endeavour's side. Don't worry though, you'll get your chance to fight with him I promise. Until then, you'll be playing with me."

All Might didn't really want to play with anyone. After a little consideration, he realized it would be more convenient to stop Nikko now considering she was just as much a threat as Shiro was.

"Very well. I accept your challenge Nikko!" All Might declared in a fighting stance. "Get ready!"

Nikko smirked. This was going to be fun.

Aizawa

Eraser Head dodged the attack on one individual and leapt over them while his scarf entrapped them. Then using all his strength, he threw the said individual at his allies.

'How annoying,' he thought. 'They're better than the punks at the USJ. More coordinated and have actual training. Midoriya wasn't joking about them.'

His thoughts were interrupted by several cries. He looked and saw heroes covered in what looked like foam, or rather, suds. They tried to use their quirks but found that they couldn't.

That gave their attacker the opening she needed as she took them down with… a push broom.

Aizawa knew immediately who she was.

'Zookeeper,' he silently thought. 'Curator's unwilling accomplice.'

She was as Izuku described her, completely devoid of emotion. She took down enemies without even so much as blinking and then moved on to the next target.

Aizawa wondered what was likely to happen if she was captured. Despite the crimes she had committed, she could not be held accountable. Perhaps it was possible to reverse the effects of the drug used on her.

"ERASER LOOK OUT!" a familiar voice shouted.

Aizawa turned and saw Power Loader being thrown towards him. He dived to the side to narrowly avoid a painful collision. Power Loader crashed against the wall.

"Well look what we got here Zoo, two of my brother's work colleagues," came a new voice.

"Targets: Eraser Head, Power Loader, UA Professors," Zookeeper added in a dead voice. "The first Curator has expressed interest in and should be captured. The second might be useful for Rika but isn't required alive. How shall we proceed?"

Bearhead rolled his eyes. She was always like this. He knew why but that didn't mean he liked it.

"Capture them alive," he instructed. "But make sure to knock them out good."

"Understood," she answered as she slipped into a fighting position. "Commencing capture."

The two teachers were on their guards immediately. These two were dangerous, which meant no room for mercy.

However, Aizawa was a little curious about Bearhead's use of brother. What did he mean by work colleagues?

Other heroes

Frozen Fairy brought up an ice shield to protect her and her allies from the molten lava that was shot straight at them.

"So, you survived, did you? Good. It wouldn't be much fun if you died right off the bat," Volcano chuckled alongside his teammates. "Shiro wanted us to take some of you alive but honestly, I couldn't care less."

Miruko scowled. She, Frozen Fairy, and Wash were in for a tough fight, not that she minded. In fact, it put a smile on her face. She could work in a team for once, at least until the Volcano Thieves were put in the ground.

Black Baron sent waves of dark matter after Combustion and Dokujin but both retaliated with their quirks. Ryukyu intervened and shielded them both. They were in for a tough fight.

As Gun Gale fired many shots from an AK-47 he forged from his right arm, Crust was putting up several shields to protect him and Gunhead. It was bound to be a long fight.

The Wild Wild Pussycats alongside John Doe surrounded Atlas. However, he didn't appear concerned in the slightest.

Blitz Strike was firing electricity at Speed Demon with relative ease only for him to dodge it quite easily.

Sketch was facing off against Blade who sliced through one of his creations with relative ease.

Edgeshot finally came face to face with the one he was looking for.

"Hello my love," Shino greeted. "It's good to see you again. Though I wish it were under better circumstances."

"That makes two of us," Edgeshot retorted.

"I have to admit, I wish you weren't part of this raid," the assassin said. "Though I am glad you're not fighting someone like Shiro. Believe me, that guy is way too strong for you."

Edgeshot did believe her. Despite the nature of her job, Shino was a shockingly honest woman. It was one of the things he loved about her.

"Enough talk," Shino readied her sword. "Shall we begin?"

Edgeshot got into a fighting stance. "Let's."

And just like that, their dance had begun.

Raid Section: Endeavour

A burst of fire erupted from the palm of the flame hero as he bore his way through the enemies in front of him. Unfortunately, it didn't bring them down. Whatever their clothes were made of they were certainly fireproof.

'Okay, plan B then,' he decided.

Concentrating and condensing his flames, Endeavour fired at them again with many crashing against the wall.

This wasn't his first time-fighting someone fireproof, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. He had learned the hard way that just because someone couldn't be harmed by his flames, didn't mean they couldn't be harmed at all. Fireproof wasn't impact-proof after all.

Two villains came up to him: one in front and one at the back. The one in front tried to ensnare him by the neck with an electric whip, while the one from behind arose from shadow to strike him with a taser.

'Not a bad strategy,' Endeavour admitted. 'But not good enough!'

Coating his hand in fire, the flame hero grabbed the whip and hoisted the villain towards him while turning to deliver a hard kick to the shadow villains' gut that sent him flying.

He then gave a powerful elbow to the villain that caused her to cough up spit but throwing her into her ally.

Endeavour smirked with satisfaction. They may have been better than the average villain, but they were still no match for him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clapping.

"Very impressive," the voice complimented. "I can see why you're the No.2 hero, though you never advanced any further than that, despite all the cases you solved."

The voice was praising, yet there was a hint of condensation and mock that lay within.

Endeavour turned and shot the man the darkest glare he could muster, his flames burning just as his rage did.

The second he did, however, he couldn't help but smile. In front of him was the primary target of the Raid, Shiro, and best of all, he had gotten to him first.

That was one over on All Might, especially when he ended up defeating him.

"Enji Todoroki," Shiro greeted. "So good of you to come. I've heard so much about you."

"Then you know there's no point in fighting me," Endeavour retorted. "Surrender now, and I promise I'll make your defeat as quick and painless as possible."

"Tempting, but no," Shiro smirked. "It's not every day I get to fight someone like you. Deku got his shot at you, and now it's my turn."

Endeavour scowled ferociously at the name. He was still angry over the humiliation he had endured from that villain brat. A large part of him still couldn't believe it had happened.

He, the No.2 hero, second (begrudgingly) most powerful only to All Might in Japan, was defeated, by a quirkless child.

Defeated might not have been the right word, caught off guard, that would be better. Either way, the result was both humiliating and disgraceful.

When he woke up the next morning, he'd hoped it had all been some sort of bad dream, only to have his hopes dashed upon reading a threatening letter (the details of which he didn't want to describe) from Nezu about his actions.

"Aw, don't feel too bad about it," Shiro said teasingly. "He got the drop on me too." Shiro indicated to his eye. "Never saw it coming. That… pun wasn't intentional. Doesn't matter though. I let my guard around him for a split second, and this was the result, one of the few permanent scars I have."

"You must really hate him then," Endeavour assumed.

Much to his surprise, Shiro waved his head in denial.

"Not really. Between enslaving him via the electric collar, forcing him into deadly fights, unfairly torturing him, and adding even more trauma to his psyche I kind of had it coming," the leader of Hades shrugged. "I regret the torture part though. Turns out he actually didn't deserve it."

And he didn't. He'd only found out yesterday, but Kioku informed him about what really transpired between Izuku and Graphene. It seemed he and the kids were telling the truth. As much as it angered him that Graphene of all people disobeyed him, he was even more furious at the result.

While he wasn't above torture, he was fair about it as in he only gave it to people who deserved it. Izuku, unfortunately, didn't factor into this category. That meant he owed him, and by extension the kids, an apology, not that it would matter at this point.

"You sure you'll be able to fight with a wound like that?" Endeavour taunted. "Losing half your vision puts you at a serious disadvantage."

Shiro merely chuckled as a response.

"I fought Bakugo before all this and have kept up with my fight with Atrocity," he pointed out surprising the Flame Hero. "So yeah, I'll be fine. Besides, if you can manage with a large burn scar across your chest, then I can manage with a missing eye."

Endeavour's rage momentarily faltered, and his eyes widened in shock.

"H-How," Enji stammered. "How do you know about that?"

There was no way this man came across it from Shoto. He had never seen, nor had it been mentioned to him once. So just how?

Shiro's smile grew even wider. More than that, a sick sense of pleasure took over as he observed the hero's expression. That just left one tiny little thing.

To drop a bomb on his entire world.

"Why I learned it from your son of course," Shiro explained, his smile never once faltering. "Why yes, since a few months ago. Ever since Young Touya paid us a visit."

Elsewhere in Endeavour's Section

The rest of Endeavour's squad were faring much better.

Midnight put several villains to sleep with her quirk while Kamui ensnared others in his vines.

Firecracker Princess was shooting out fireballs from her hands.

Skeleton Eye blasted individuals with radiation dosages while at the same time looking elsewhere.

Metallum and Dicer teamed up and were manipulating whatever metal they could find on their opponents.

Shishido slashed his way through the enemy while Fat Gum absorbed several.

Ms Joke made multiple people laugh so hard that they collapsed from their insides hurting.

The sidekicks seemed to be handling themselves quite well.

So far so good, or so they thought.

They weren't prepared for the army of diamond clones that came their way. Ectoplasm countered with his own army of clones, which were somewhat outclassed due to Diamante's clones being far stronger than his. However, they were not invulnerable as he managed to destroy several by crashing them into each other.

Ectoplasm inwardly sighed. He was in for a long fight.

Midnight's whip was ensnared by another. Upon seeing who it was she scowled.

"Pain I presume," she guessed.

"You know it," the torturer smirked sadistically. "Because I'm the one who brings it."

"Not today," the R-rated hero responded with an equally sadistic grin.

Similarly, the heroes found opponents of their own to deal with.

Kamui Woods faced off against Cu Chulainn and Lorelei. Despite knowing the hero's reputation, he was determined to push forward until the end.

Death Arms and his sidekicks, along with Fat Gum faced off against Hercules, who seemed completely calm.

Dicer and Metallum found themselves against Wolfram. The villain smiled at them, eager to begin.

Skeleton Eye faced off against Aphrodite and immediately started checking her out. Aphrodite merely blushed in amusement. Their fight was to be an interesting one.

Shishido came face-to-face with Lobo who activated "Wolf Soul" to provide extra strength. His head, hands, and feet took on the appearance of a black wolf with grey streaks. He would need all his strength if he was to win.

Rock Lock, Ms Joke, Native, and Yoroi Musha surprisingly found themselves facing Tempest alone. What was surprising was that the woman didn't appear intimidated at fighting so many opponents at once. In fact, she looked thrilled.

Raid Section: Gang Orca

Gang Orca and the others swam forth only to be met with a hypersonic attack, which Orca countered with one of his own. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it came from.

"Well, hello there, Gang Orca," a cold familiar voice echoed. "It's been quite some time, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough Curator," Gang Orca spat with such venom it made the other heroes flinch. The sheer hatred the Killer Whale Hero was displaying for Curator was phenomenal. "Never long enough with you."

"How you wound me with your cruel words," Curator replied insincerely with his hand over his heart. "Then again, I've wounded you plenty of times, so I guess it's only fair."

Orca glared at his nemesis, ignoring the others present.

In addition to Curator were Umi in her mermaid form and Aqua who had surrounded herself in a liquid forcefield while drawing oxygen from the water.

In addition, there were several whalemen (Curator's henchmen) just floating on standby.

Umi didn't know how strong the heroes were but maintained her resolve to fight them.

Aqua was more interested in Manual, or as she knew him, Misaki Mizushima. It had been years since their encounter, yet she had never forgotten him.

Given that he was a pro hero now perhaps that meant he had improved, though he was nowhere on her level. Still, it would be interesting to spar with him for a bit. Perhaps she could even jog his memory.

Gang Orca and Curator glared at each other. Both were waiting to make the first move, not that it mattered. Curator had a little surprise in the waiting, and soon he would reveal it.

In the depths of Hades, a small figure wearing a blue helmet with a red visor lay in waiting.

Fight Monologues

Raid Section: All Might

Eraser Head and Power Loader vs Zookeeper and Bearhead

Eraser immediately went for Zookeeper as he was most suited to taking her on. Their quirks would be pointless on each other as it would for him to use it on Bearhead.

Swinging their right legs at a high turning kick, their legs collided with equal force. As soon as they were back on two feet, Eraser dashed forward and attempted to punch her, only for Zookeeper to direct his arm away from her and get in close. She then delivered a knee to the stomach and a kick to the face in quick succession that sent Eraser staggering back only to regain his focus a second later.

He ran at her again, this time with his capture weapon in hand. Zookeeper ran at him with her broom ready to strike. As they came in close, she swung her weapon which is exactly what he was waiting for. He leapt over her with his binding cloth slowly starting to ensnare her.

Unfortunately, Zookeeper reacted much quicker by using her broom as a shield and allowing it to be captured instead. Then using the same technique Eraser just used she flipped over him using his weapon to drag him along and flip him over.

In the air, wide open, Eraser could do nothing as Zookeeper delivered a powerful reverse turning kick to his back that sent him flying.

Power Loader wasn't doing much better against Bearhead who outclassed him in terms of physical strength and speed.

The two were locked in a bitter struggle as their arms wrestled against each other. Power Loader's suit was holding against Bearhead, however, soon he began to be pushed back.

"So sorry, but your piece of scrap metal got nothing on me," Bearhead taunted as he forced his body backwards.

Using all his strength Bearhead threw the Excavation Hero over his head onto his back while he kept his head and body off the ground. Power Loader yelped in pain, but Bearhead wasn't finished yet.

Flipping over the hero still holding his suits hands, Bearhead hoisted him and threw him over in the same pattern, again and again. Power Loader was starting to get dizzy and wasn't sure how much more he could take.

Eraser continued to trade blows with Zookeeper who appeared to be on equal ground with him. Despite this, he couldn't deny that he was impressed. There weren't many who could last this long against him in a hand-to-hand situation.

His thoughts were interrupted by Power Loader's cries of pain.

Deciding to help his colleague, Eraser waited for Zookeeper to attack. She launched a flying sidekick at him, only for Eraser to successfully ensnare her by the leg this time.

Using all his strength, he swung his scarf and threw the villain at her companion, who noticed too late as she collided with him, releasing Power Loader from his grip.

"Thanks, Eraser," Power Loader said. "This guy is strong."

"Time to change tactics then," Eraser said.

"Time to dig a little deeper you mean," Power Loader smirked as he activated his quirk and burrowed his way underground.

The two villains were beginning to recover as Eraser made his move.

"Hah, you think that will help?" Bearhead shouted. "Even if he's underground, I can smell where he."

He didn't get a chance to finish that sentence, because at that moment he and his companion were hoisted up into the air by Eraser's binding cloth. As they came closer, Eraser kicked both downward just in time for Power Loader to emerge and deliver a double strike to them both at the same time.

Zookeeper didn't say anything, but Bearhead roared in pain.

Power Loader smirked while Eraser looked on coolly.

"And that takes care," before he could even finish that sentence, his entire suit fell apart. "W-What?!"

"Surprise," Bearhead said mockingly. "Back when we started fighting, I dug my claws in at the back and slashed where I could. The more damage your suit took, the easier it was for the insides to break apart." Power Loader couldn't believe he'd been stupid enough not to notice that. "Enough about that though. It's time to end this. Zookeeper, what say swap dance partners."

"Strategy change, acceptable," the white-haired villain responded.

Before either man could react, Bearhead pulled on Eraser's cloth and threw him into his arms. Bearhead held on tightly as Eraser struggled to break free of the enormous bearhug.

"Eraser!" Power Loader cried.

Zookeeper didn't waste any time as she performed a triple flip over where Power Loader was and had her legs wrapped around his neck.

Without delay, she did a back handspring and crashed his head very hard into the ground. She then stood up and applied an axe kick to his stomach, effectively knocking him out.

Eraser thrashed about in the painful submission, but Bearhead refused to let go. The pain became unbearable as he started to lose consciousness. His movements began to slow until finally, he stopped moving altogether.

As unconsciousness came, so did one last thought.

'Everyone. I'm sorry. I failed.'

Frozen Fairy, Mirko, and Wash vs the Volcano Thieves

"TAKE THIS!" Dusty Ash shouted as dust shot from her body towards the heroes.

Wash countered by firing a stream of soapy water from his head that dispersed the attack in a matter of seconds.

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Gust Boy yelled as he activated his quirk.

His hands began to spin like they would for a fan and two small tornados were unleashed. They easily overpowered Wash's quirk and continued to head for the heroes when Frozen Fairy intervened and brought up a wall of ice.

"Is that all you know how to do?" Dusty taunted.

"Not even close!" Frozen Fairy snapped.

Twirling on her leg, she sent a large barrage of ice at the villains.

Volcano wasn't having any of it and unleashed a torrent of fire to stop the onslaught. When the attacks collided, there was a large amount of steam, temporarily blinding everyone.

Not planning to waste this opportunity, Mirko leapt into action. Even if she couldn't see them, she could still hear them.

Diving straight down at max speed and strength, she aimed where Volcano was standing. Twisting her body, she swung her foot as she fell.

"Luna Fall!" Mirko shouted as her foot collided with Volcano's back, who smashed face-first into the ground.

Volcano felt several ribs crack as he coughed up blood. A scar formed at the top of his head which leaked out blood over his right eye. As he lay there in pain, Mirko continued with her assault. Moving into a cartwheel she swung her legs again.

"Luna Ring!" she shouted as her legs connected with the villain's faces.

Dusty and Gust were sent sprawling in opposite directions.

Not wanting to let her fight alone, Wash unleashed three large bubbles that covered the villains and levitated them into the air.

Frozen Fairy then turned each of the bubbles to ice and sent them crashing to the ground. Fortunately, the ice was incredibly durable, so it didn't break on impact.

It seemed like it was over. Emphasis on seemed.

"You know when Deku said these guys were like A-Rank villains, I thought they would actually be tough," Mirko admitted. "But this was way too easy."

Before either of her companions could say anything, one of the ice spheres shattered, revealing a shivering, and extremely pissed off Dusty who was holding a black club.

"You bastards!" she snarled. "Did you really think it would be that simple?" It was then she activated her quirk as clouds of dust began to spiral everywhere. "Battle Royal!"

The dust managed to get into the eyes of the three heroes, blinding them.

Taking advantage, Dusty struck. She smashed her club across the Rabbit Hero's face twice in quick succession and then threw her to her teammates.

Dusty then briefly attacked the spheres to cause a crack in them. When her companions didn't emerge immediately, Dusty became a little worried. However, that was shattered along with the ice when Gust broke free using Fan.

"A-A-Assholes!" Gust growled still shivering. "Y-Y-You're gonnana p-pay f-for."

He had to hold that sentence as Frozen Fairy and Wash sent an all-powered combination of their quirks straight at him.

He fired back with a larger tornado, but it was all for nought as the heroes combined attacks overtook him and struck his body, encasing him completely in ice.

Frozen Fairy manipulated the ice around his mouth to allow him room to breathe.

Whether Dusty didn't notice or just didn't care was irrelevant at that point in time as she was locked in a vicious struggle with Mirko. What's worse is that she had the upper hand.

Dusty repeatedly struck Mirko with her club while at the same time using her quirk to blind her. Mirko tried to fight back but Dusty easily dodged her attacks and struck again, this time at her legs causing the hero to sprawl onto the ground.

Raising her club to deliver the finishing blow, Frozen Fairy decided she'd seen enough and crafted a bow and arrow made of ice and shot it at the villain's weapon. The impact sent the club flying out of the villain's hands.

Dusty yelped in surprise, giving Mirko the opportunity, she needed.

Pivoting on her hands, she spun and kicked at Dusty's legs causing her to fall on her side. She then kicked Dusty in the face as hard as she could before handspringing into the air and delivering a powerful spinning dropkick on her back, knocking her out effectively.

Not wanting to take any chances, Frozen Fairy restrained Dusty using Frozen handcuffs on both her arms and legs. She then did the same with Gust by controlling the ice to regress backwards until he was in a similar position to his companion.

"And that's that," Frozen Fairy declared. "Are you both fit enough to move on to the next area?"

"I took a few hits, but I can still fight," Mirko grinned. She rubbed her face where Dusty hit. "Damn, that bitch was tough. She really roughed me up."

"Wash!" Wash added cheerfully.

Just as they were about to move on, the temperature of the area rapidly increased.

In addition, Volcano's sphere, as well as his ally's restraints, began to melt.

"Special Move: Volcannon!" Volcano shouted.

Without warning, lava began to shoot out from the ground in different directions, though mostly aimed towards the heroes.

Gust, having broken free of his cuffs, grabbed Dusty and used his quirk to fly towards the centre of the eruption.

With limited space and time to run, Wash brought up several bubbles which were then frozen as shields against the lava.

"I don't know how long this will hold," Frozen Fairy admitted regretfully. "Fire takes a while to make my ice melt, but lava, that's much hotter."

As if to prove her statement, water began dripping all around them. Frozen Fairy instantly began to reinforce the barrier, however, using her power was beginning to take its toll on her.

"I can't keep this up forever," she said bitterly. "We need a plan of action."

"No shit!" Mirko retorted. "But what? We're basically sitting ducks."

"We need to do something," Frozen Fairy snapped. "We can't just."

CRACK!

The loud sound of ice cracking interrupted her speech. Looking up at the roof she saw a small crater, which then became bigger as it was struck again.

"Ten thousand yen says it's that dust bitch from before," Mirko growled still angry about the beating she took.

CRACK!

The ice was beaten down again and looked like it was about to cave in. Frozen Fairy attempted to rebuild it but was a split second too late as the roof was blown downwards by a tornado. The heroes were unable to move due to being held down by the intense wind. This gave the villains the opening they needed.

Dusty took out a small 'present' from Volcano and dropped it into the ice sphere before leaping off with Gust.

"Wash?" Wash asked confused by the orb.

The three heroes' eyes widened as they realized what it really was.

Desperate, Wash and Frozen Fairy tried to use their quirks to contain it but were too late as the bomb went off, unleashing a huge explosion from inside the sphere, destroying it completely and defeating the heroes.

Volcano chuckled and stared down at the gauntlet on his arm.

While he was a little sceptical of Shita's support device at first, he quickly came to see how useful it was. The device in question was an enhanced version of his previous gauntlet that in addition to allowing him to launch his fire, enabled him to craft small bombs by storing some of his power in them.

As the smoke cleared the Volcano Thieves could see the three burned (but alive) bodies of the heroes.

"Well guys, looks like it's our win," Volcano declared.

Ryukyu and Black Baron vs Combustion and Dokujin

The fight appeared to be in the hero's favour.

Despite Combustion and Dokujin using their quirks to fight back, Ryukyu was too durable in her dragon form. Not to mention strong.

They had been struck once or twice by the dragon and it hadn't been peaceful. They were left with bruises and cuts with blood leaking out of them in certain places. As for why they hadn't been struck more times it was because they were careful enough to dodge each of her attacks.

Ryukyu's form may have granted her enhanced attributes such as strength and durability, but speed wasn't one of them as they could keep up with her.

Black Baron was trickier. He would construct various weapons from the dark matter such as a hammer, swords, and knives and use them in various ways to attack them, as well as put up barriers to protect himself from their attacks.

Catching him off guard was not an easy task.

"Any suggestions?" Combustion asked. "I'm willing to try anything at this point."

"Beat the crap out of them," Dokujin vehemently suggested.

"Anything better perhaps?" Combustion rolled his eyes.

He knew his teammate loved to fight but at times it could blind him to reason. They needed a strategy if they wanted to win.

Ryukyu had high defences and Baron was an elusive opponent.

There had to be some way to catch them off guard.

'Heh, the only way they'd do that is f they'd thought they'd… won,' Combustions eyes widened. 'That's it!'

"Hey, I've got a plan," he said.

"Better be a good one," Dokujin muttered.

"It is," he retorted. "We need to take them both down separately and when they let their guards down. The only way to do that is to make them think they've won. For the time being, fight Ryukyu while I deal with Baron."

"What kind of a dumbass plan is that?" Dokujin asked disbelievingly.

"One that will succeed," Combustion responded. "Trust me on this one. Oh, and one more thing. Get angry, and I mean really angry. Angrier than you've ever been in your life. It's how you will defeat Ryukyu."

Dokujin didn't quite believe his comrade, but he didn't argue with him either. Combustion had never led him wrong before, so why was now any different?

"Fine, we'll do it your way," he said. "Now let's beat the crap out of these hero bastards!"

Nothing more was said between the two of them as they focused on their separate targets.

Baron was a little amused by their change in tactic but otherwise unimpressed. He wanted this fight over and done with as he did the raid. While he had agreed to take part, he wanted to get back to his beloved wife and daughter as soon as possible. Khioniya and Rachel were bound to be worrying about him right now, and he wanted to get rid of that.

Combustion fired an explosion at his foe who quickly brought up a dark barrier to defend himself. When they were close enough, Combustion tried to use his quirk again by absorbing the heat particles from the area only for his explosion to fall short as Baron extended dark matter like a shadow and used tentacles to drag him back.

"I think this has gone on long enough, don't you?" he said coldly in Russian.

Using his quirk, he trapped Combustion in the dark matter in an attempt to suffocate him unconscious. This would take a few minutes, but he could wait that long as he was confident Ryukyu would handle the other one.

However, what happened next surprised him in ways that had never happened before. Despite being encased in dark matter, Combustion still retained the heat particles he had absorbed. Using them, he initiated a large explosion from all over his body.

Black Baron struggled to contain the explosion but the strength of it made it difficult. Eventually, the detonation stopped, and the villain stopped moving altogether. Removing his quirk, he saw that the villain was alive but incredibly weakened.

No longer seeing him as a threat, he moved to help his ally, only to be met with a raging inferno.

When Combustion started fighting with Black Baron, Dokujin attempted to take on Ryukyu all by himself. While it wasn't easy, he managed to keep up and dodge all her attacks, yet he restrained himself from using his quirk until the right moment.

'What is he up to?' the Dragoon Hero wondered. 'Is he trying to wear me down?'

What Ryukyu didn't know was that he did have a way to wear her down, it just wasn't through physical means.

Throughout their fight, Dokujin thought a lot about his past: how he joined Hades, the hardships he'd endured, the humiliation, the betrayals, all the people that pissed him off (Deku and Shita included), and just about everything that pissed him off in this damn world.

And he used it all as fuel.

His fury became the very petrol he needed to power his quirk.

When he was certain he had reached his highest point, he dashed towards Ryukyu with a blank expression across his face. The hero tried to swipe at him, but he was quick enough to dodge and get under her huge body.

Standing straight he stomped his foot down… and screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And in that moment, a blazing hell was unleashed. The fire consumed the hero's body as she did nothing but scream in agony. Most people didn't know this, but Dokujin's flames could be just as hot as Endeavour's, if not hotter when he needed them to be.

And Ryukyu felt the full force of it. Not only did she feel the unbearable pain of it all, but the intense heat was starting to drain her body as she slowly began to lose consciousness.

Black Baron couldn't believe what he was seeing or feeling for that matter. It was as though he had stepped into hell itself.

He didn't dare approach though as he wasn't sure he'd be able to help. Unbeknownst to him, the fire Dokujin was giving off was sending out a lot of heat particles.

Another thing he didn't know was that Combustion, while not immune to explosions in general (though he did have a bit of resistance), was completely immune to his own.

With his opponent distracted, Combustion rose to deliver the final blow.

Dashing at his opponent he turned and delivered a flying side kick, where at the moment of impact, a massive explosion occurred that sent the Demonic Protector of Kazan soaring across the air into his ally.

The impact effectively knocked both him and Ryukyu out.

Dokujin's flames subsided, and Combustion collapsed to the ground panting. He took out a small blue square-shaped pill and chewed down on it before swallowing.

The pill itself was a hydration pill created by Rika to help him deal with the fallout from his quirk, which left him severely dehydrated and tired from extensive use. Taking the pill was the equivalent of drinking five litres of water, though you didn't feel full afterwards.

"Damn!" Dokujin swore as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. "That was quite a workout."

"Indeed, it was my angry friend," Combustion agreed. "Indeed, it was."

Examining the heroes, one could see that Ryukyu had serious burns as did Black Baron, but other than that they would live.

Surprisingly enough, the flames hadn't burned away their clothes, not that he was complaining. They were charred but otherwise wearable.

"I doubt they'll be up for a while," Combustion stated. "Let's move on, shall we?"

The red head smirked and followed, leaving the defeated heroes behind.

Crust and Gunhead vs Gun Gale

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gun Gale continued to fire against his opponents, only to be blocked by Crust's shields. When his body reverted to normal, Gunhead made his move and started firing claw-like bullets made from Keratin.

Gun Gale wasted no time in dodging by cartwheeling to the left.

'Well, this is not going well,' the lone villain thought. 'Those shields he is producing block all my bullets, not to mention they can cut through anything.'

He had studied up on the heroes of Japan in thorough detail. Among those he deemed a threat, Crust was one of them due to the defensive and offensive capabilities of his quirk, mostly defensive though.

'Gunhead's quirk is impressive, but it's his affinity for martial arts that make him a genuine threat. Hmm, what to do, what to do?'

Of course, he knew what he had to do he was just annoyed he had to do it. His quirk Gun State allowed him to transform his body into any gun he desired, the ammunition was something he could produce as a bonus. However, the more bullets he used the more his energy depleted, hence why he preferred to finish his fights quickly.

What most people didn't know about his quirk was that while he could produce bullets, he could produce other ammunition. Not only that, but he could also alter the properties of the gun he was using, such as adding extra firing equipment.

"Gunhead, we need to hurry up and finish this!" Crust yelled.

"On it!" the Battle Hero replied.

He prepared to fire again at the villain, only to be surprised when instead of dodging Gun Gale ran straight at the bullets. Dropping on his knees and skidding forward with his upper body bending backwards he dodged the bullets and continued running forward.

'What the?' Gunhead thought bewildered. 'Did he realize shooting was pointless and is now trying to take us on in a straight-up match?'

'Something about this doesn't feel right,' the Shield Hero mused.

Gun Gale could tell they were baffled by his sudden change in strategy, which worked well for him.

As he came closer, he transformed his right leg into an M4 carbine assault rifle with an M203 grenade launcher and fired off a round. The explosion temporarily blinded the heroes as he soared over their heads. When he was in perfect range of them, he fired again with Crust barely managing to put up a shield in time.

Blocking a grenade is not the same as blocking a bullet. When Gun Gales shot landed, the explosion sent the two heroes crashing backwards on the ground.

As they stood up it was evident, they were shaky.

"Time to end this I guess," Gun Gale decided.

Holding out his left arm he transformed it into an RPG 7, much to the hero's horror. If a small explosion like that wouldn't take them out, then a much larger on was sure to do the trick.

Without further delay, the Gun villain fired at his targets while Crust put up the largest and strongest shield he could muster.

BOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!

The explosion from the impact was huge and went behind the heroes to other police and heroes fighting with Hades members. The result was several on both sides dying, in addition to being severely injured.

Gun Gale felt somewhat bad about hitting his allies but rationalized that these things happened in war, as he had learned first-hand from his time as a soldier.

When the smoke cleared, Gun Gale was quite surprised to see both Crust and Gunhead alive. They were heavily burned and unconscious, but otherwise alive.

Crust deserved the most praise. Being able to block an impact like that come out alive displayed not only a high level of perseverance but skill as well.

"The doctors are gonna have their hands full with these ones," Gun Gale admitted. "Oh well, can't be helped. These happen in war after all."

Wild Wild Pussycats (Mandalay, Tiger, and Pixie-Bob) and John Doe vs Atlas

"Your feline fantasies are here! Say meow!" Mandalay introduced.

"Allow them to lend a helping paw!" John Doe added.

He wasn't really part of the group, but they asked him to fill in on the introduction. Something about a teammate of their not being available because of personal reasons. He didn't really understand it, but it was fun to do.

"We're champions serving up justice with our tails!" Tiger said intimidatingly.

"Perfectly cute and cat-like heroes!" Pixie-Bob beamed.

"We're/They're the Wild Wild Pussycats!" they all finished in the pose.

Atlas stared at them with a neutral expression.

"A pleasure. I am Atlas, a member of the Elemental Assassins here at Hades," he responded nonchalantly. "I must say you are not what I was expecting. You do not look that old for your age. This one look about seventeen." He pointed towards Pixie-Bob whose face lit up. He then pointed at John Doe. "I don't know who he is. I don't think he's part of your group though, I mean he's not wearing a cat costume."

The heroes were surprised at how polite Atlas was. They remembered Deku's report which described him as one of the nicer members. Apparently, he wasn't kidding.

"While I know it is unlikely, you'll actually do it," Atlas sighed. "I will ask to turn around and walk away from this place, from this mission of your if you prefer."

Now that surprised them. Was he afraid to face them all at once, or was he concerned about them? He sounded sincere, though it could be a deception.

"If you know then why ask?" Tiger interrogated.

"Because you'll lose," Atlas answered bluntly. "I don't know what Deku told you about me or anyone else here for that matter, but I'm certain he told you we're not your average opponents."

"That may be true, but that's no reason to run away," Mandalay said. "Not when people are counting on us to rescue them."

"So, give up on trying to persuade us," Pixie-Bob challenged. "Our minds are made up."

Atlas inwardly sighed. Their intent was so pure, it was almost saddening, almost. He knew it would come to this, that didn't mean he wanted it though. It just meant he would have to defeat them.

"Less talking more ass-kicking," John informed them in English.

It wasn't as if he was bad at Japanese, however, he was still learning the language and could sometimes struggle with a few words.

"Well, no way around it then," Atlas sighed. "Just remember, I offered."

While the others took up fighting stances, he retained the same standing position.

"God, I wish we had some music to play for this," John lamented.

They divided themselves up and attacked separately. Tiger was first to strike. He ran at Atlas at max speed and brought out his claws in an attempt to take him out early.

John had a similar idea as he ran at him from behind with a stun baton enhanced by his quirk. As they neared him, Mandalay used her telepathy on him and screamed in his head.

'AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!'

Much to her surprise, Atlas wasn't the least bit affected by her mental barrage. He stomped his left foot on the ground, and a second later two earth pillars shot out from the ground towards the two opponents running at him.

Tiger just barely managed to twist his body out of the way as he kept up his charge, while John was less lucky and was hit hard in the stomach that sent him crashing against a wall, knocking him temporarily out of the fight.

As Tiger neared, Atlas calculated where he would step and erected a large pillar that squashed Tiger against the ceiling.

"Admittedly, not a bad plan, but not one that would work on me," Atlas spoke calmly. He turned to a glaring Mandalay. "You have a loud voice, I'll you that. But along with my 'siblings' I've been trained to resist mental attacks. So really, don't waste your thoughts."

'Dammit,' Mandalay internally swore. 'I thought that would work. Time to change tactics.' Activating her quirk, she spoke with her teammates. 'Everyone, I hope you're alright. Things are much more complicated than we thought. My psychic attacks don't work on him. We need to come up with a plan.'

Pixie-Bob gave her teammate a look but said nothing. It was time for her to make her own attack.

Summoning the earth, Pixie-Bob sent several waves towards the villain. In addition, she used her special move to summon several earth golems/beasts to assault Atlas. Baring their fangs, they charged at him with the intent to incapacitate.

However, she was shocked when Atlas raised his hands and suddenly all her attacks stopped. With all her willpower, Pixie-Bob tried to force them to move but to no avail.

"My siblings and I were trained from birth in the use of our element and have mastered every aspect of it, even going so far as to control the quirks of our enemies," Atlas explained, his voice neither sarcastic nor condescending. "I control the earth in all her forms Pixie-Bob. From pebbles to boulders, from sand to mud, you name it, I control it. You are powerful, I won't deny that. But compared to us, you and other elemental users are mortals, whereas we… are Gods."

Mandalay did not like that description, mainly because from his demeanour, he wasn't lying.

Tiger broke out of his little prison and began to attack Atlas again by swiping and kicking at him.

Mandalay and Pixie-Bob joined in this time by assisting each other in a coordinated attack against Atlas who miraculously dodged each one, even the attacks he couldn't see.

John recovered and joined in the attack by enhancing the others while attacking Atlas with two fixed blade knives.

While they couldn't hit him, he could certainly hit them by bringing up different layers of rock to hit them aside.

At one point, John attempted to stab him from behind, but he spun aside while a wall of earth smashed face-first into the hero and drove him into a wall, once again knocking him out.

None of them could understand it. He couldn't be that good, and yet he was.

"I'd say this fight has gone on long enough," Atlas concluded. "As you can see, you're no match for me. This is why I offer you the chance to leave once more. Abandon your mission and return home before you become slaves of this place."

"As if we would ever succumb to demands of a villain like you," Tiger barked.

Atlas groaned. This was getting annoying. Couldn't they see that they wouldn't win?

"Do none of you has families you need to get back to, relatives that are anxiously waiting for your return?" he enquired.

Mandalay froze upon hearing that question. The image of a small boy, no older than five with spiky black hair and a red cap came to mind.

Her cousin Kota, her only living relative whom she held custody of. He was at home waiting for her. He was at home still recovering from the trauma of the training camp.

Of all the things she expected from the camp, a villain attack was not one, especially with her cousins (Kota's parents) killer present.

The poor boy had nearly been killed by that monster and was still recovering from the mental shock of it all as he was with his parents. Could she really afford to leave him alone as well?

"Of course, we do," Pixie-Bob answered honestly. "A lot of heroes do. But guess what, so do most of the people you kidnapped." Atlas didn't need to be told that. "Which is why we'll keep fighting, for them, and for others just like them. Because even if it's hopeless, that's what heroes do. Help others."

Atlas exhaled deeply. He had heard that response before and as noble as it sounded it always ended the same way. Atlas' eyes briefly wandered over to Mandalay and noticed how unsure she was about the whole situation. That was unusual.

Could she have perhaps been considering his offer? Maybe she had someone at home she desperately needed to return to.

Atlas snapped back to reality the second he felt John Doe moving. From the vibrations, he could tell the man was reaching for something. At the sound of a click, Atlas instantly brought up an earth wall to shield him from whatever was being fired at him.

Stomping his left foot down again, John Doe was launched into the air by a pillar until it stopped, and he crashed into the ceiling and fell back down onto the spike and to the ground, knocking him out.

Deciding he'd had enough of this fight Atlas repeated his final attack from the mall and unleashed a wave of earth against the heroes who were too slow. The heroes were pinned against the wall, but Atlas wasn't finished yet. He wanted to make sure they stayed down for good.

Controlling the earth around them, he forged cuffs for their hands, feet, and waists. Holding out both his hands he tightened them both as fists, and as he did, the restraints tightened. The strain it put on the hero's bodies caused them to slowly descend into the realm of sleep.

"K-Kota," Mandalay murmured, attracting Atlas's attention. "Kota."

Atlas raised an eyebrow. So, she did have someone she cared about. A son perhaps, or husband maybe. In that case.

"Rest well, cat girl. You will be home to him soon," Atlas assured her. "Very soon."

Atlas liked to consider himself one of the nicer more reasonable members of Hades, as did many others. He didn't particularly like his job where he had to capture people, but he did it anyway. Why? While he valued life more than others, he also valued his own.

That said he would often let people go when he could.

Like now.

Blitz Strike vs Speed Demon

Speed Demon was moving as fast as he could to avoid the hero he was fighting with. The reason being Blitz Strike creating some sort of chain with him attached to it and travelling along with it as an electrical current until she reached and shocked the life out of him.

Not an appealing experience he had to admit which is why he was running.

'Ugh, I'd rather be training with Tenya,' Hayai internally whined. 'He's come so far already, and there's still more to go. Not to mention his wicked new hairdo. I swear, combine that with the costume design Shita's been working on and no ones gonna recognise him.'

Tenya was currently with Shita at the development studio which was sealed off entirely like the rest of the building, save for when Shiro invited All Might in. Boy that was going to be a fight worth watching.

The sound of sizzling came close to him, and the speed villain sped up. He wondered if he just had to continue running for Blitz Strike to tire out and give up, though he seriously doubted it.

The woman was an underground hero like Eraser Head, though far more dangerous and destructive. She attacked her targets with precision and efficiency and often left her targets in a disabled and (occasionally) dead state. She was often employed by the police to deal with more dangerous targets that other heroes couldn't handle.

He understood.

In this life, someone like that was always necessary. Unfortunately, this now applied to him.

'Well, no way around it,' he decided as he turned to face the electrical storm heading his way.

Rotating both his arms at super-speed two small tornados formed and shot at the living lightning chain. Because she was heading straight for Speed Demon Blitz Strike was unable to dodge and as a result, slowed down in her assault.

For the moment it seemed to be working. The hero was barely able to move as she struggled to reach the speedster. This was of course part of his plan to wear her out.

Blitz Strikes quirk, while extremely powerful, had a fatal weakness. The user had to possess incredible amounts of physical stamina and strength for it to work, and the more she used it, the more tired she became.

And worst of all, once she was in attack mode she couldn't stop until she'd hit her target, which worked out just fine for him.

Blitz Strike increased the power output of her attack and slowly began to break through the tornados. Speed Demon wasn't entirely worried, it was all part of the plan. He increased the power of his tornados as she increased her own power, and in the process gradually wore herself out.

When she was within inches of him, Speed Demon (for a split second) broke the tornado and she electrocuted him at full force.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the speedster screamed as the electricity coursed through his body.

Yet, despite the pain, he persevered and managed to remain conscious. Next came the tricky part of the plan.

Blitz Strike collapsed on the ground panting heavily. She had not expected to use that much of her power and so soon. She needed to recharge, and soon. Good thing she brought a couple of energy bars with her. As she reached towards her pocket, surprise overtook her when she heard a voice.

"Damn girl," Speed Demon muttered. "You really know how to show a guy a good time. I'm impressed."

Blitz Strike stared at Speed Demon in disbelief. How was he still conscious? For that matter, how was he still moving? Whenever she used her quirk on someone, they were normally left physically incapacitated.

"Aah, that fight was amazing. I really thought we were connecting there you know like there were sparks flying between us. Couldn't you feel it?" Speed Demon beamed.

Blitz Strike stared at him with a cold yet dumbstruck expression. Speed Demon flinched a little under her gaze.

"Too soon?" he muttered. "Too weird?"

"Both!" Blitz Strike responded bluntly. "How are you even still moving?"

"I'm more durable than I look," he joked. "What do you think?"

Blitz Strike stared at him, her eyes cold and unsympathetic.

"I think my quirk may have given you brain damage," she replied honestly. "Either that or you were born this way, which is even sadder."

Speed Demon looked completely offended by that remark.

"Excuse me! What's wrong with my personality?" he protested.

"Seriously, it's hard not to find what isn't wrong with it," Blitz Strike deadpanned.

"Well, I'll have you know that a lot of people like me this way," the speedster countered.

"Only because they feel sorry for you," the hero shot back.

The exchange of insults between them was not one Hayai enjoyed but deemed necessary, nonetheless.

His quirk granted him super speed in several areas, healing included. While they were talking, he had been recovering from the shock Blitz Strike gave him.

Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to distract her. Whatever about him she found annoying, it worked well in his favour. While he exploited it and kept her talking, he was healing up nice and fine.

"By the way, not that I actually care but what's up with your name?" Blitz Strike asked incredulously. "Who comes up with stupid names like Speed Demon?"

"It wasn't me," he assured her. "Shiro thought it would be best if I had a name that sounded more villainous so everyone else would take me seriously. I wasn't happy about it, but I didn't want to argue either."

"I'll remember that when you're in jail," the hero muttered.

Speed Demon inwardly laughed. She thought he was going to jail. How cute.

Unfortunately for her, he was fully healed now. Meaning their little dance was coming to an end.

"Wow you are so naïve," Blitz Strike looked at him confused. "So sorry, but I have interest in being locked up. Prison just doesn't suit me if you know what I mean."

Before she could even muster a reply, Blitz Strike found herself against the wall with Speed Demon pinning her down.

He then proceeded to rapidly punch her in both the face and stomach which was amplified by his speed.

The underground hero couldn't even retaliate against the onslaught as she was too worn out from using her quirk.

So that's what his plan was,' she realized. 'Shit! Now, who's the idiot?'

Those were her last thoughts as Speed Demon's final punch knocked her to the ground unconscious.

"Ugh, finally," Hayai groaned. "I did not like fighting her. Oh well, can't be helped. A guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do."

Sketch vs Blade

Sketch drew a tiger that immediately went after Blade, only for him to turn his right leg into a sword and cut it down in one strike. The tiger immediately disappeared into paper.

"Well, this could be going better," Sketch muttered as another of his beautiful creations fell to Blade's… well… blade.

"I don't know about that. It's going pretty well for me," Blade taunted.

"Yes, for you, not me!" Sketch snapped. "It could be going better for me but instead it's you after slicing apart another of my masterpieces."

Blade rolled his eyes.

From the beginning, he found his opponent annoying, and that continued to increase as they fought.

Sketch was an unusual opponent. His quirk "Art to Life" brought about various creatures for Blade, ranging from animals to insects, as well as human beings.

"I couldn't give two shits about your stupid drawings," Blade barked. "We're fighting not drawing stick men."

"Stick men actually aren't that bad, they're a good way for beginners to start off before developing their artistic style," Sketch interrupted.

"SHUT UP!" Blade roared.

This guy was seriously pissing him off. It was bad enough he lost to Deku and his friends and got a beating from Nikko. Now he had to deal with this guy.

It was infuriating. Bad luck seemed to be following him around a lot lately.

'Whatever! The sooner I kill this guy, the happier I'll be,' Blade decided.

Despite Shiro's orders, Blade had no intention of capturing anyone today. He was in too much of a murderous mood to do that.

Activating his quirk, Blade transformed every part of his body into a type of sword. His nails and teeth became knives. Katanas came from his elbows and knees while down to his feet became swords from Medieval times.

The act was meant to intimidate his opponent.

This is why he was shocked when this happened.

Sketch's face lit up like an angel and squealed like an adoring fangirl.

"Aah, hold that posse!" he ordered as he took out his sketchbook and immediately started drawing. "Please hold that posse!"

"What the fuck!" Blade responded completely bewildered by Sketch's behaviour.

"I'm sorry it's just that when I see a beautiful work of art like that, I can't help but admire it," Sketch beamed. "Of course, that includes drawing them for memory as well."

Beautiful work of art? Blade honestly couldn't think of one moment in his life where anyone had said that about him. It was really weird.

"Are you shitting me?" Blade snapped. "We're in the middle of a life-or-death situation and you want to spend that time drawing?"

"It's called multitasking. You should try it sometime," Sketch advised him.

Blade, however, had had enough.

Reverting his body back to normal he charged at Sketch with two katanas emerging from his elbows on different sides. Leaping up into the air he spun, hoping to slice the top half of Sketch off.

Sketch with an unreadable expression was drawing something before activating his quirk. Blade came face-to-face with an iron wall that he barely managed to slash in two.

"Hey, Blade," Sketch called, his voice now calm. "How well versed are you in popular culture from centuries ago, back before quirks existed?"

Blade furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What did that have to do with anything? He wasn't versed at all, mainly because he wasn't interested.

"I'm going to take it not that much, well that's alright," Sketch assured him. "It's not for everyone. Me on the other hand, I love it. Movies, books, comics, manga, and anime that existed long before we were born, before quirks even existed, and remain popular to this day. Some of my favourites include Naruto, Attack on Titan, Harry Potter, Batman, and The Hunger Games. Ever hear of them? Perhaps not if you're not a fan like I am. You should though, they're amazing. So many unique designs and creative ideas to choose from, they inspire me to draw such beauty like my own."

The atmosphere had suddenly changed. It was darker, tenser. And Sketch, his tone of voice indicated that he was finally getting serious. The cold look in his eye only confirmed it.

Blade was a little unnerved by it all. It was as if his personality had done a complete 180 turn.

"Let's start with the Hunger Games, a novel series about a young girl in a dystopian world who takes part in a dangerous fight to the death to protect her sister. She faces many trials throughout these games, one just so happening to be a Jabberjay, a special of mutated bird used to mimic human voices and spy on others. In one such event it was used to torture her by mimicking the voice of her beloved sister," Sketch explained in extraordinary detail. "I loved the idea it was one of the cruellest ways to assault your enemies. However, I also thought a bit more could be added to them, like this."

Flipping to a page in his sketchbook of several birds and words beside them, he activated his quirk and brought them to life.

Several black birds with white crests appeared flying around Blade.

"Well Blade, what do you think?" Sketch asked in a cruel voice.

No sooner had he said did the Jabberjays start to mimic his voice and words. However, they spoke they were high-pitched sonic screams that forced Blade to his knees as he covered his ears while dealing with the pain.

Sketch looked on with a cool expression. He thought it was a good idea to give them sonic screech powers to inflict more damage.

Sketch turned through his book again to a page that brought a serious expression to his face.

"Now this one is from the Harry Potter series, specifically book 3," he explained. "A demonic entity that feeds off happiness and forces others to live through their darkest fears. Don't worry, it can't suck out your soul, I made sure of that."

Activating his quirk again, the Dementor came to life and began to circle Blade who felt the entire air turn ice cold. It wasn't just that though he began to slowly recall his worst memories ranging from scary to traumatic.

He wanted the horrible torture to end. The only reason he wasn't praying was that he couldn't remove his hands from his ears, and because he doubted anyone would answer.

He had been taught from birth to only rely on himself to survive and he wasn't about to change that now.

Seeing that his target was immobilised Sketch waited for him to fall unconscious. He didn't particularly take any pleasure in watching his opponent suffer but he wasn't willing to take any chances against a member of Hades. Sometimes the most brutal methods were the most effective, and of course, sometimes they weren't. He was aiming for the latter.

Blade could barely think as the horrific sensations coursed through his body. At this rate, he wasn't going to last much longer. Yet, despite all the torture he was going through, he refused to succumb. He willed himself to stay awake and fight back.

It wasn't easy though; those Jabberbastards sonic voices were damaging his body and his ears, while that shitty floating bathrobe was making him relive his worst nightmares.

If he wanted to get out of this and kill that son of a bitch, he would have to do something he rarely did and swallow his pride.

Most people didn't know this but, Blade usually wore support gear made and designed personally by Shita. The gear itself was a form of armour that could enhance all his abilities, physical, defensive and quirk.

Now one might be asking why he didn't normally use it in the field. He would unstoppable if he did. Well, the reason was simple.

Pride.

Pride was why he didn't use it. He couldn't accept that, or he wouldn't put his trust into something a quirkless person made. It was pretty stupid considering how successful Rika and Shita had been at Hades.

Hell, the boy became one of the few individuals to argue one on one with Shiro and win.

From what Blade had heard, he broke into Shiro's room just to see what his wardrobe was like. Shiro caught him and threatened to disfigure his face, leading to a serious argument between the two that went on for two days straight. Imagine his surprise when Shita came out victorious.

Shiro was especially humiliated because he had lost an argument with a kid. If it had been someone like AFO it would have made sense but a kid, it was inconceivable.

Most of the people who worked for Shiro (he and Nikko included) never said this out loud, but what Shita did earned him major respect from everyone.

Which was why for the first time in his life he would put his faith in that quirkless brat. Though it would be hard to hear him (even himself) the suit would know what he wanted and when he spoke.

"Blade Buster activate. Code Excalibur!" Blade muttered.

No sooner had he uttered it did a change overtake his body. In place was a metallic black and grey jester costume that mirrored his mask. On the top right and bottom left parts there were white swords cut across diagonally.

The suit had several functions intact, one of which blocked out all sound, and another of which granted shielding from mental based attacks. Suddenly, Blade felt he could think again, and finally stood up against the shrieking abominations.

Sketch was a little perturbed by his enemy's sudden change in appearance. He was even more unnerved when his creations were having no effect on him.

Blade smirked on the inside. It seemed Shita had done something amazing after all. He would need to (silently) give him more credit after this.

'Alright, time to test this suits functions,' he decided. 'If I remember correctly, the suit enables my quirk to do this.'

Several knives immediately formed across his body. Then, like a porcupine, he shot them out at everything within range. In this case, the Jabberjays, who fell like raindrops from the sky.

'What the?! This isn't how his quirk works!' Sketch thought confused. 'That suit, could it be?'

Next was the Dementor. Now unaffected by its wicked powers, Blade leapt up into the air with a sword emerging from his right shoe as he spiralled downwards.

The end result was the Dementor being cut in half and returning to the paper it once was.

It was then that Blade turned his attention back to the hero, who was glaring at him for destroying his works of art. Sketch was done playing around.

"Let's go back in time shall we," he offered as he flipped to another of his drawings.

Activating his quirk, a group of Samurai came to life fully dressed in armour with their Katanas ready to strike.

Blade wasn't phased in the slightest. Charging forward he dodged the first row of swords only to collide with the next. Blade brought out two flamberges to block and deflect the attacks.

He then switched to two khopesh's in his legs and did a handstand while spinning and in the process severed the samurai's upper halves from their bodies.

He then flipped up into the air and threw several knives that connected with the heads of some samurai.

The remaining samurai then tried to fight him, but Blade switched to katana hands and began to block and deflect their attacks onto one another.

With just one paper enemy left, the two charged at one another before slashing. Standing in opposite directions on opposite sides with their backs to each other, the paper samurai fell, ending the threat once and for all.

"You are seriously starting to piss me off," Sketch growled. "How many times have you destroyed my drawings now?"

Since it had come to this, he would have to use his special reserves. Taking out two special pages, Sketch used his quirk to bring both to life.

One was a large purple hydra with six heads.

The other was a chimaera with hawk wings, the head and body of a lion, scales of a lizard, and a snake tail.

"Let's see how you handle some of my strongest creations," Sketch challenged.

Blade, underneath his mask, wasn't impressed. If Sketch thought these would be a problem for him then he had another thing coming.

He knew about Greek Mythology having studied it briefly after encountering Cerberus. Not to mention the entire organization was named after the Lord of the Dead himself.

The chimaera soared at Blade roaring. Its claws came up as it prepared to strike. Blade returned the favour by speeding forward and skidding on his knees. As he came under the beast, a claymore emerged from his stomach and pierced the chimaera's skin and continued to do so as he slid through.

As an extra caution, Blade embedded several small knives in the beast including the snake head.

The chimaera howled in pain as it turned to nothing.

The hydra roared at Blade as it moved towards him. It was a miracle he didn't laugh because the creature was moving incredibly slow. Though he supposed that was natural for something with a huge body and that many heads. What he wasn't prepared for were the six energy beams that came out of its mouth.

Blade started running as fast as he could to avoid the beams. He appeared to be succeeding until one of the beams collided with his back and sent him crashing against the wall.

Thanks to the suit it wasn't overly painful, but it wasn't peaceful either.

The six heads fired again on an immobile Blade who could do nothing but take it all in.

The result was a large amount of dust.

'That cares of that then,' Sketch decided.

However, that certainty turned to horror when a large sword shot out of nowhere and pierced the hydra's chest and continued through its heart.

"I know the legend goes. Cut off one head, two more grow back!" Blade explained. "If I aim for the heart though even it won't survive."

The hydra's screams were loud and agonising but soon ceased as it turned to nothing.

Blade surprisingly wasn't looking too terrible. His suit was still in one piece which was good. The defensive attributes were incredible. He really, really needed to give Shita more credit. Maybe he could do so later.

Sketch was in a state of disbelief. He had thrown just about everything at Blade, only for it to fail. He wasn't finished yet though, he still had one last trick of his sleeve.

As Blade approached him Sketch threw two pages with his quirk activated. The villain tried to slash them only for them both to explode.

When the smoke cleared Blade found himself confined by multiple tight steel ropes coming from all corners of the area. What was intriguing though was that there were several strands of paper hanging.

Blade found this unusual.

"I must admit, I never thought you would push me this far," Sketch revealed to him. "No one ever has, not even during my Sports Festival years. You should be proud of yourself."

"I could say the same about you," Blade shot back. "Forcing me into using the suit. You've got to be the first." Sketch was a little curious about that but didn't get the chance to learn. "Now, what great pop culture is this from might I ask?"

Sketch brandished a perfect smile.

"Why a combination of sorts. You could say what we have here is a crossover between Naruto and Attack on Titan, or rather Attack on Titan meets Shikamaru Nara," Blade rolled his eyes as he waited for the explanation. "You see in the anime Naruto, Shikamaru after losing his Sensei faces his killer one on one in a life-or-death match with neither giving up. in the end, Shikamaru emerges victorious by springing a trap the leaves his enemy dangling over a pit while with paper wrapped around him."

Blades eyes widened upon hearing those words. Since Sketch's quirk brought anything he drew to life it meant he was literally surrounded by bombs right this second. Was he trying to kill him?

"Don't worry, these won't kill you," Sketch assured him. "Severely injure you yes, but kill you, no. I don't want you dead. I am a hero after all." Blade wasn't sure if he should trust that statement or not since it really didn't mean all that much to him. "Continuing on, Shikamaru blows the killer up and leaves at the bottom of a hole. Now to explain how Attack on Titan factors into this. Since we're tight on time I'll skim over the details. It's a manga about a dystopian world where many eating giants called titans exist and humanity has almost been wiped out by them. In a situation, they try to capture this intelligent titan called the Female Titan. This is the equipment they used to do it, albeit with a twist."

While Sketch rambled on about this, Blade contemplated his next move. He wasn't sure how durable the suit was, and he really wasn't eager to try out, but like before he didn't have a choice.

'Well here goes nothing,' he thought.

"And they should be going off right about…"

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

"…now," Sketch finished.

The explosion was massive, so much that it shook the tunnels.

Sketch was somewhat surprised since he hadn't expected it to be that big. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the outcome since it meant his victory.

He was extremely exhausted though. Bringing his drawings to life took a lot out of him, especially if they were settings instead of animate objects.

Due to a large amount of smoke, he couldn't see anything. Not that it mattered anymore. Because at that very second, an extremely pissed off Blade came dashing out of the smoke towards Sketch.

He was bleeding, burnt, and his clothes were destroyed.

The left side of the top half was gone, as was some of the lower with him going barefoot and his thighs exposed. Only his underwear remained.

Panicked Sketch flipped through his book, only for it to be sliced in two by Blade a second later.

Then, twisting on his right foot he delivered a powerful back kick in the form of a Claymore that pierced Sketch's heart and left him hanging in the air.

Sketch coughed up blood that fell on Blade who stared at him coldly.

Then, without warning, he threw Sketch to the wall who surprisingly managed to stay sitting up despite his wounds.

He stared at Blade and the form he was in, his design, and his expression.

It was all so beautiful.

A work of art.

He coughed up blood again.

He had lost, failed, been killed. But he wasn't angry, he held no regrets. He did his duty as a hero and lived his life as he liked.

He was only sad that he would never see Ryukyu again. Even if she didn't return his feelings, he still valued her as a friend.

Regarding Blade, he didn't hate him. He didn't like what he did, but still found a way to respect him, nonetheless.

"What a unique piece of art you are. I have to draw you," Sketch said weakly.

Blade was a little surprised at his attitude. Even after everything that just happened, he still wanted to draw and even praised him.

In the rarest moments, where he showed any form of kindness, he picked up the sketchbook and pen and brought it to Sketch who was overjoyed.

"Thank you!" he said as he immediately started drawing.

Surprisingly, Sketch was quite fast despite dying. It took him about a minute to finish.

Blade would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed with how detailed the drawing of him was. It looked almost realistic.

Sketch smiled at the picture before collapsing, only to be caught and laid down by Blade.

"What is with me today?" he wondered. "I'm thinking highly of Shita and now I'm being nice to a hero I killed. I'm going soft."

Leaving the hero with his drawings in his arms, Blade walked away.

After all, the battle was far from over.

Izuku Midoriya

Izuku just finished his tea and moved onto another one when the others came into view.

"You're up early," Momo complimented.

"Habit," Izuku admitted. "So, are all of you?"

"We couldn't really sleep," Jirou admitted.

"I doubt anyone in the country has," Neito quipped before looking around. "Are the teachers already gone?"

"Yeah. Some have gone to the raid, while others are on patrol here," Izuku answered.

"Do you think it's already started?" Tokoyami asked.

"It already has," Izuku said.

"Would you say it's close to finishing?" Hitoshi asked sceptically.

Izuku shot him a tired look. He was going to need a lot more tea.

"On the contrary, it's only just beginning!"

Hi there. Well, what did you think of that? I was going to include All Might and Edgeshot's fights, but I was tired of writing this chapter and I was tired of making you all wait. The Raid will be divided up into different chapters because there are a lot of fight scenes.

I swear this chapter was the bane of existence, as the next couple shall be. I'm sorry I haven't been updating but I've been busy with college and exams. Finally, they are finished for now.

I've got a few ideas for different characters and a specific story I could weave into for each of them. After the Hades fiasco, it won't be the end. There will be more arcs that give different characters a chance to shine, characters with their own story to tell. I am also working on other stories since I needed a change.

Sketch and Blades fight was not supposed to be that long but since I decided to kill the character in this chapter (because it wouldn't make sense if someone didn't die in one of the fights, especially Blade) I decided to have him go out with a bang.

The next chapter will cover some of the fights from Endeavour's section and hopefully Edgeshot's with Shino.

Chapter 42 has been edited, specifically the part where Elena is making her speech.

Once again, thanks All-Bite for the cover art. And thanks to everyone who submitted an OC.

Thanks to everyone who read this story. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and it was exactly what you were expecting. Please review!